Environment
Hundreds evacuated in South Island after a weekend of severe rain and flooding
Hundreds of people have spent another night away from their homes on the South Island’s West Coast.
Parts of the Amazon now emitting more carbon than they absorb
Some regions of the Amazon rainforest are now emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb.
300 lawyers are suing the Climate Change Commission for not doing enough
They say current aims “will fail to achieve our goal of avoiding catastrophic climate change”.
Cotton buds, meat trays and plastic forks to go with new plastic ban
The plastics phase-out will take place in three stages from 2022 to 2025.
NZ households throw out $23 of food a week each
We’re chucking out 8.6 percent of our groceries each week - mostly fruit and veg.
A scientist tells us where to find NZ’s secret glaciers
Did you know Te Ika-a-Māui / the North Island has its own glaciers?
10 out of 18 freshwater taonga struggling to survive
Tuna, kākahi (freshwater mussels) and kōura (freshwater crayfish) are all at risk.
Nitrates in our drinking water could be causing premature births
Nitrates in our drinking water may be leading to babies being born prematurely or underweight.
Pregnant women drinking water with 10 milligrams of nitrates a litre are…
Do you need a freezer in Antarctica? A chef lets us know
Tom Thorpe goes about his job like any other chef, but with one major difference: it's -40C outside.
NZ’s glaciers are melting seven times faster than they used to
Researchers at the University of Toulouse, France, analysed half a million satellite stereo images to study mass changes of glaciers worldwide.
Globally they estimate glaciers lost 267…
The sex helmet that tried to save kākāpō
Sirocco the kākāpō wouldn’t stop shagging people’s heads. So one clever DOC worker came up with a potential solution...
After being raised by humans, Sirocco the kākāpō…
Students at school strike 4 climate tell us what changes we need right now
“We are wanting our government to take some accountability to move forward and do something."
Trashing our beaches: Plastic and glass found on Rangitoto
A mass garbage collection on Rangitoto is part of a nationwide beach cleanup. The coastline initiative is also telling us about what we're dumping into our…
Losing forests results in more human disease, research shows
A new study has linked deforestation with a higher risk of disease in humans. The researchers say we need to protect global forests to prevent future…
Growing weed indoors is actually really bad for the environment
According to research published today, growing cannabis indoors produces up to 5000kg of carbon dioxide per one kilogram of dried flower.
That’s roughly 4850 times the emissions…
The government has completely changed our land and environmental management laws
The Government announced today it will get rid of the Resource Management Act and replace it with three new pieces of legislation. The long-awaited move is…
What you need to know about the Climate Commission report
Here are the major points from the Climate Commission report.
Using poetry to talk about the climate crisis
Jordan Hamel is a writer, poet and award-winning poetry slam performer. He is one of the co-editors of the Climate Change Poetry Anthology, due to be…
The fight over Auckland’s new dump at Dome Valley raises the question - what happens when a…
Is it sustainable to just keep putting our rubbish in the ground?
I watched the Young Voters' Debate and was actually entertained
Here are seven highlights from last night's showdown.
Protestors marched against a new dump they say will 'poison the Kaipara Harbour’
Hundreds of protestors marched down Queen Street in a hīkoi against the Dome Valley dump proposal.
How to rebuild a more sustainable New Zealand after Covid-19
Lockdown has shown we can take bold action that would have previously been unthinkable.
A poem to help us process our frustration and anxiety right now
In just a few weeks, many of us went from feeling more or less secure in our livelihoods to losing them. The rest of us are…
This 17-year-old has hundreds of thousands of bees
Ethan Manera (@ethansbees) is a 17-year-old beekeeper from Christchurch... who also happens to be afraid of bees. He tells us why bees are so important, and…
Can a thriving dairy industry and healthy waters coexist?
The quality of half of our waterways is diminishing, according to a recent study by Land, Air, Water Aotearoa. Contributing to this has been the growth…
What is a fire tornado?
The bushfires in Australia are giving us incomprehensible statistics, such as 7 million hectares burned and 1 billion animals killed. They are also delivering the rare…
Inside Te Urewera: The overdue pardon of Rua Kēnana
Atamira Tumarae-Nuku, 30, stands looking out over the valley at Maungapōhatu. One hundred years ago this was a thriving village home to over 1000 people, but…
Rediscovering Aotearoa: Podcast - Taiao | Nature
The forest of Te Urewera, in the middle of the North Island, was the first place in the world to be granted legal personhood - all…
Rediscovering Aotearoa: Taiao | Nature
The last bullet of the Land Wars was shot in 1916 at Maungapōhatu in Te Urewera, and the forest was later taken into government control. Atamira…